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“Oh yes, he will.” Joe’s voice was fierce.
“I’m going to have to go, Joe. I’m going to leave tonight.”
“And you think you’d be safer getting in a car? Remember, you don’t have one.”
“I know. I’m not thinking straight.”
“If you got in any vehicle, do you think he might be out there waiting?”
“He probably is,” she said.
“When you head down that road in the morning, it’ll be with me in the car with you, and we’ll be going straight to the police station.”
Violet started to cry. “I have to go, Joe. I can’t stay here. I can’t stay. I don’t trust him.”
“And what happens if he finds you in the next place, and you’ve got no one to protect you? Violet, I love you. I am not letting you go.”
Her eyes were full of tears as she turned to him, and Joe held his breath. When she reached for him, and clung to him, he breathed out and held her close.
He couldn’t believe the sort of mongrel she’d run from and what she must have been through. The night she’d told him about her ex-boss, she’d brushed it off as a silly mistake.
“I’ll look after you.”
“What if he comes back here tonight?” she whispered.
“He won’t. If he comes back here tonight, all the doors will be locked, and you’ll be sleeping next to me in my bed with the bedroom door locked. We’ll go and check Molly and then we’ll go to bed. Is that okay with you?”
She nodded wordlessly. The only regret that Joe had was that the first night that Violet spent in his bed would be one borne of fear. He desperately hoped that there would be many more happy nights ahead of them.
***
Violet woke the next morning with a warm am draped over her. She blinked and then remember the events of the night before and she took a deep breath.
Joe had said he would protect her, and she trusted him.
He’d said he loved her and she hadn’t replied; she had been traumatised. She rolled over slowly, careful not to move his arm. It was the last thing she’d been thinking of as he’d tucked her into his bed last night.
“I’ll sleep on top of the sheet, and I’ll keep to this side,” he’d offered.
When she shook her head and held her arms up, Joe had groaned and lain beside her.
Violet let her eyes roam over his face. Joe was still asleep and she looked her fill. His long dark lashes rested on cheeks flushed pink from sleep. The pain must have eased because the lines around his mouth had softened.
A wave of love for this man flowed through her and she thought about what he’d said the other morning.
Now Violet believed in love at first sight too. Her own hero on his white horse had found her a place to belong.
Epilogue
Carols by Candlelight -one week later
Violet
Joe had offered to pick up Jake and Emma, and baby Nat, on the following Saturday for the annual Carols by Candlelight at the showground. He already had a baby seat in the shed for when Georgia travelled in his car.
Violet shook her head. “I can’t believe you’ve got a baby seat.”
“Well, she’s my only niece, and I’ve looked after her a couple of times. We’ve gone to the park, and we’ve had ice cream. It’s a bit far to walk from my farm.”
